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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24155047">The staring contest</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphictaurus/pseuds/Sapphictaurus'>Sapphictaurus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst (Kind of), F/F, Possibly Unrequited Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:00:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,140</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24155047</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphictaurus/pseuds/Sapphictaurus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For the past three years of her life, Lena had made a very serious effort to not kiss Kara Danvers.</p>
<p>Some stupid staring contest was not going to make her give in to anything remotely gay.</p>
<p>She refused to let it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen (mentioned), Kara Danvers &amp; Lena Luthor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The staring contest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The au (not) where Lena is a gay mess and Kara doesn’t realize it.</p>
<p>hope you like it :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The staring contest was a <em>bad</em> idea, a <em>colossal</em>, <em>gigantic</em>, <em>enormously</em> <strong><em>bad</em></strong> idea that she should have declined to participate in as soon as it had been brought up. But the one constant in Lena's life was that she continued to be an outrageously stupid lesbian who caved at the slightest flicker of disappointment in the face of a pretty girl.</span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So despite knowing it's definitely a bad idea, and an even worse idea for her to be the one facing Kara, she does it anyway– and is immediately torn about whether or not she regrets it, because Kara is just so <em>insanely</em> gorgeous that she might actually lose her mind and that's both good and bad all at once.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Whatever the blonde’s intentions had been when she suggested the contest, Lena was sure they hadn't been ones of intimacy, not when they were in a room of other people who were probably acutely aware of how hard she was trying to contain herself.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Not when Kara was definitely straight and wanted nothing to do with her outside the comfortable and <em>platonic</em> realm of friendship.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her fists remained clenching and unclenching in her lap, over and over again as she studied Kara's unwavering gaze. Her crystal blue eyes, her nearly flawless skin save the scar right next to her eyebrow.</span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then there was Kara's hair, blonde, golden, nearly as captivating as her eyes when Lena managed to look long enough, allowing her mind to wander into less than friendly territory she could imagine running her fingers through the soft strands, the way Kara might sigh at the pleasant sensation.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her one rule for the evening after stupidly agreeing to the contest, was to not, under </span>
  <b>any</b>
  <span> circumstances, look down at Kara's mouth. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Being close to her was one thing, gazing into her eyes was one thing– but gazing and close proximity were going to ruin their friendship the moment she let herself look down just a bit, past Kara's adorable nose, the subtle freckles there, down to her cupid's bow, and then to her mouth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>For the past three years of her life, Lena had made a very serious effort to not kiss Kara Danvers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Some stupid staring contest was not going to make her give in to anything remotely gay.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She refused to let it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She was a Luthor damn it, she had been born and bred to exercise self control– taught to always have a handle on her emotions even when she felt like she was going to burst.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lena could stare down sexist board members, face world killers, and she could survive the wrath of Morgan Edge.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Surely she could handle a staring contest against her best friend.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And yet, thirty seconds into their little show off, she found her gaze slipping, eventually finding it impossible to not glance down at Kara's perfect pink lips. It was impossible to not imagine the sweet </span>
  <em>
    <span>sigh </span>
  </em>
  <span>Kara might make as soon as she pressed against her, how the blonde might feel underneath her fingertips. How could she not want to kiss Kara? If only to find out just how soft she could be, to know if the girl of steel really was as bendable as–</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You won!" Lena announced, blinking a few times before quickly turning to take a rather large gulp from her wine glass, letting the liquid run down her throat and make her feel warm inside, a momentary distraction from whatever the hell it was she'd almost let herself do.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>For a second, she could see in Kara's face that the blonde wanted to protest the notion, obviously sensing that something was wrong– that the losing on Lena's end hadn't been authentic enough to be passable, but thankfully she didn't say anything at all, instead deciding to take another bite of pizza and quietly accept her victory– however unearned it had become due to Lena's inability to control herself for longer than thirty five seconds.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Okay enough sleepover games," Alex chuckled, taking a drink of her beer. "Let's talk relationships." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She ended her sentence with a pointed look at Kara that very much made Lena a bit nervous– and though the CEO couldn’t remember the last time she’d prayed, she couldn’t help but send one up whatever god might be listening to her– hoping that Alex’s teasing had nothing to do with William.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Or any other man for that matter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She knew it was selfish, to have to sit there and bite her tongue every time Kara found a boy who really made her happy– even if he always </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> inevitably hurt her in the end.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A good friend would have supported her in her choices without always having the sinking feeling of jealousy settling in their stomach at the mention of his name, they would be happy for her without the acute knowledge that seeing her with someone else was going to break their heart just as it always did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even if seeing her cry over him in the end was going to break it even more.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>If Lena wasn't so hopelessly in love with Kara, she might have been a better friend, might have thought a little less of kissing her and a lot more of whatever straight women thought of their female counterparts. If Lena was a better friend she wouldn’t be jealous of the guys who made Kara’s world spin a little faster.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>However, Lena didn’t have much experience with having friends </span>
  <em>
    <span>or </span>
  </em>
  <span>being straight.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't know...I'm not really interested in him." Kara said just as Lena tuned into the conversation again, pouring herself some more wine just in case she had to listen to the mention of another man, a different one, one who had stolen Kara's heart and run away with it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After almost kissing her less than ten minutes ago, she could only imagine what exactly she'd do if she had to engage in a conversation about boyfriends or bed mates– in all honesty, she knew that she'd probably do something gay and embarrassing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What about you Lena?" Nia piped up then, an eager smile on her face when she asked the question. "Do you have anyone we need to know about?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” She answered easily, taking a long drink of her wine as she made the tremendous effort to </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>even glance at Kara when she said it. “There isn’t anyone.”</span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the conversation shifted to something else, a benign topic that Lena couldn’t name if someone had asked her to– she allowed herself to look at Kara out of the corner of her eye, mesmerized by the sheer beauty that sat before her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“There isn’t anyone.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>She repeated to herself in her head, biting her lip as she watched Kara throw her head back and laugh at something Kelly told her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I wish there was.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading &lt;3</p>
<p>come find me on twitter and instagram @karaszorxl</p></blockquote></div></div>
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